Paterson Gets Some Sobering Advice on His Political Future

Governor David A. Paterson spoke at a news conference in Manhattan on Thursday. Credit
Richard Perry/The New York Times

ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson said Thursday night that as he weighed his political future, he was seeking counsel from elected officials across the state. But the first few hours of that listening effort offered some sobering advice.

A range of political allies and even some close friends urged Mr. Paterson privately and publicly to end his bid for election. They said his political standing had been irreparably damaged by revelations on Thursday that the State Police had contacted the woman pressing a domestic violence complaint against a close aide, and by the allegation that the governor had spoken with her a day before she was due back in court.

While no prominent Democrat called for Mr. Paterson to resign, several said it would be impossible for him to both govern and run a campaign while dealing with the allegations, which the governor has asked Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo to investigate. Other officials said that if an inquiry showed that Mr. Paterson tried to influence the woman’s decision not to continue the case, he should resign.

Those calling on Mr. Paterson to suspend his campaign included senior Democratic members of New York’s Congressional delegation, Albany lawmakers and black Democratic officials, including some from Harlem, generally considered Mr. Paterson’s political home base.

“I don’t think his campaign can go forward successfully — quite the opposite,” said State Senator Bill Perkins, a Democrat from Harlem who holds Mr. Paterson’s former seat. “This is a fatal blow, and it will probably only get worse. I just think that it’s clear that this is a storm he has to step away from.”

The calls for Mr. Paterson to end his campaign came less than week after he formally began it, with a defiant speech at Hofstra University in Hempstead in which he cast himself as an underdog who would fight for ordinary New Yorkers against Albany special interests.

Mr. Paterson has for months rebuffed pressure from within his own party to bow out of the race in favor of Mr. Cuomo, who is far ahead in polls and whom many Democrats wish to see head their party’s ticket in November.

Photo

The Rev. Al Sharpton, leaving a meeting where the governor's future was discussed.Credit
Katie Orlinsky for The New York Times

And some Democrats close to the governor say he has grown more and more isolated from old friends and allies, angrily dismissing their advice that he reconsider his plans. But few prominent Democrats openly called on Mr. Paterson to abandon his campaign, not least because Mr. Cuomo has yet to formally declare himself a candidate.

That reticence all but evaporated on Thursday, after revelations that Mr. Paterson and members of his State Police security detail had spoken with the former companion of the governor’s aide David W. Johnson, after she pursued the domestic abuse complaint.

“This is a devastating blow to a campaign that had problems to begin with,” said State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, a Manhattan Democrat who is one of Mr. Paterson’s closest friends in Albany. “I don’t think there’s any way around that, and I think he knows that. I think everyone knows that.”

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Mr. Paterson met Thursday evening in Manhattan with Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the state Democratic Party, to discuss his options, according to Mr. Jacobs, who declined to discuss the substance of the discussion.

Separately, some black Democratic officials and advocates met in Midtown Manhattan during the evening to discuss Mr. Paterson’s fate. The meeting was convened by the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose support for the governor is viewed as essential to his political survival, and was attended by Malcolm A. Smith, the State Senate president pro tempore; John L. Sampson, the Democratic conference leader in the Senate; and H. Carl McCall, the former state comptroller.

“It seems to me that there are three issues that he has to deal with,” Mr. McCall said in an interview before the meeting. “One, he’s got to govern. Two, he will have to manage a campaign. And three, he will have to deal with these allegations. It’s clear to me he can’t do all of these things. The question for all of us is, which of these things will he abandon?”

Mr. Paterson faced tougher criticism from those outside his circle of allies, especially from Democratic members of Congress who anticipate difficult campaigns of their own this fall and want a stronger candidate, like Mr. Cuomo, at the top of the ticket.

“There is a crisis of confidence in the governor’s leadership,” said Representative Tim Bishop, a Suffolk County Democrat, “and these latest allegations add fuel to the fire for the growing number of New Yorkers who do not believe this governor can lead our state through these difficult times.”

Raymond Hernandez contributed reporting from Washington.

A version of this article appears in print on February 26, 2010, on Page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: Democrats’ Support Is Fading Quickly. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe